Trouble just seems to follow E.ON Climate & Renewables, the subsidiary of a German energy giant that has its sights trained on our pristine desert-mountain ridgelines for an industrial-scale wind plant. Strike One (Texas) For instance, just east of Raymondville, Texas, E.ON and Duke Energy developed Magic Valley Wind Farm, where 112 turbines began operating in late 2012. But it didn’t take long for the …

A crowd of more than 200 High Desert citizens came out to the Bureau of Land Management and Southern California Edison’s joint public workshop Tuesday evening, September 16, 2014, in Victorville, but left with few answers to their direct questions regarding the massive Coolwater-Lugo Transmission project’s purpose, cost, and environmental impact. “It was hard to pin Edison down about why the High Desert even needs …

This video from Hawaii opens with a report of a fire at the Kahuku Wind Farm on Oahu. The fire was the second in two years at a giant warehouse that stores Kahuku’s batteries. But the cautionary tale here goes beyond fire. It’s the fact that the wind farm needs batteries in the first place. Why? Because the grid can’t absorb the wind farm’s erratic …

The Alliance for Desert Preservation (ADP) is urging its members and High Desert residents concerned about industrial-scale energy development to attend a just-announced public workshop on the future of the Coolwater-Lugo Transmission Project (CLTP). The workshop is being jointly staged by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the project’s proponent, Southern California Edison (SCE), on Tuesday, September 16, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. …

In case there was any doubt, the High Desert ridgelines targeted for the North Peak Wind Project are “absolutely fire prone,” according to Al Solorio, former San Bernardino National Forest division fire chief for the Arrowhead Ranger District. “This is an area with extremely dangerous fire conditions,” says the wildland fire-suppression specialist. “And the presence of 71 wind turbines would create very hazardous conditions for …

Deadly weapons: Wind turbine blades spin at 180 mph, accounting for the slaughter of more than half a million birds annually, according to the American Bird Conservancy. What’s at risk: The North Peak Wind Project area has nesting golden eagles, bald eagles, and is a major flyway for migratory birds. Southern spotted owl, Townsend’s big-eared bat, least Bell’s vireo, and southwest willow flycatcher are just …